The present invention relates to an auxiliary wheel assembly for motor vehicles. More particularly, it relates to an auxiliary wheel and tire assembly, especially intended for use by tow truck operators.
Today, when a tow truck operator must move a car missing one or more tires, which is often the case with abandoned cars, he employs auxiliary devices referred to as "dolly wheels" which comprise a pair of interconnected wheeled supports having a trough in which the front or rear hubs of the car are supported. These dolly wheels, which must be installed in pairs, are awkward and time consuming to install, and they limit the speed of the tow vehicle to approximately 20 to 25 miles per hour.
A variety of auxiliary wheels and/or emergency axles for motor vehicles have been proposed to date (see, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,985,485, 3,454,305, 1,410,863, 1,488,464, 1,278,669, 1,011,852 and 1,383,554). However, so far as is known, no auxiliary wheel assembly is presently available which can be universally adapted to fit all cars, allows towing speeds of normal highway driving speeds (55 miles per hour) and which is easily and quickly installed.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an auxiliary wheel assembly for motor vehicles to be used as emergency equipment which is particularly intended for use by tow truck operators.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide such an auxiliary wheel assembly which is universally adaptable to different wheel lug patterns.
It is a further object of the invention to provide such an auxiliary wheel assembly which is relatively inexpensive to manufacture, easy to install, dependable, and superior in operation with respect to presently available auxiliary wheel devices.